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Microsoft, Yahoo Investigate Spam Solution
bllfrnch writes "The NY Times (account required, yada yada) has an article about the suggestion of email postage to stop the advent of spam. Apparently, both Microsoft and Yahoo! support such an initiative, as they are the largest email service providers. Best quote: ''Damn if I will pay postage for my nice list,' said David Farber, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, who runs a mailing list on technology and policy with 30,000 recipients'."
Paying for postage already exists, it's called a fax.
This is the worst solution ever and the only reason that MS/Yahoo support it is because of Hotmail/YahooMail. They stand to make huge profits because they host the inboxes of millions of users. Every email received at those accounts would invoice the sender. It's a no brainer for BARRELS OF CASH !!! (tm)
In fact, there already was a good solution proposed a few weeks ago, by microsoft no less. Combine it with Spam Assassin the way Spam Interceptor does (replacing the C/R component) and the solution is plausible.
It's a ridiculous concept really, the reasons email has become successful to begin with is that it's fast and free. If you charge for email, people will just move over to instant messengers or other systems. And how do you enforce charging people who you may or may not be able to track, the proposal to charge for spam based on the reciever's choice is absolutely ridiculous.
Asking the sender to process a quick math question seems a better solution to me.
Spam boxes would be prohibitively expensive due to the heavy requirements for sending millions of spams, and it would have the added benefit of notifying people when their box has been owned due to 100% processor utilization on said owned relay box.
The money option just sounds like pushing for a new revenue stream. To heck with that.
How will this affect websites sending their users emails from requested sources?
Like I'm the programmer of Gemsites, a Slashdot clone. When we register a user, we shoot them an email. So are we going to have to pay money to do that?
Because that would be totally stupid, and it would possibly put an end to discussion websites that require logons to validate users, unless there was a method to bypass the charge for sending email.
The way Microsoft will turn it, would be that we all *should* be paying per email, because of this reason or that reason. Bottom line is Billy Goat Gates on his mountain of cash, trying to pile up more of it.
What you say? Microsoft would get huge bills because of the abusers of it's Hotmail service? That would be a pity, wouldn't it?
Why can't MX records become required to list all in AND out going official SMTP for a domain. From then on, SMTP servers could reject non matching MXed sender IPs and if spam does get through - you know you to blame.
The Goodmail "solution" is the worst of all possible worlds. What they want to do is convince people doing spam filtering that paid-for spam should still go through. They want to raise the quality of the spam, not get rid of it.
Please. That's not the answer.
thad
I love Mondays. On a Monday, anything is possible.
Actually, this problem can be solved without charging postage on each and every piece of email.
The problem can be addressed by putting people at risk of being charged postage. This can be done by requiring that senders post a bond of say 1/10 of 1 cent per item sent.
If you are sending 30,000 pieces of mail a week, your bond would only be $30.00. If people like your email, you will never have to pay the toll, but if they don't like it, then you will be subject it.
The folks that will be caught in this web are spammers and direct marketers. They send millions of spams in the hope that just a few folks will bite. If we raise their cost of doing it above the return, they will be out of business ASAP.
The only way to kill spam, which depends on a frictionless mailing process, is to introduce some friction (i.e. cost) into the system.
Yours,
Jordan
But another method of delivering news is available to content serializers: RSS feeds. RSS feeds allow for true "push" content delivery like email. But, RSS feeds are not as easy to grasp, access or view as email.
Proposal: create an add-in RSS feed aggregator into common email platforms such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Mozilla, Eudora, pine (kidding), etc. Build content creation mechansism into the same email clients with the ability to post the feeds to a public directory (Google? Anyone listening?) with various subscription options on both ends.
This way email could be returned to a person-to-person(s) communication tool for low-volume communication needs; content aggregators could better server their readers/viewers and we can all experience whirrled peas.
Whatever. Anyway, just an idea -- what thinkest thou?
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
There already is a solution... It is called a digital signature and comes from a Certificate Authority. Couldn't ISP's, Yahoo, or even Hotmail be required to issue PKI certificates to a paying user? Email administrators would then have the option of dropping any email that wasn't digitaly signed (as coming from a legitimate CA). This digital signature would shed light on the responsible parties involved in sending SPAM. Then fines could be levied on the guilty parties. Screw the stamp people. I already pay for the privilage of sending email. Digital Signatures are free!
gllshhht...
Advantages: real email stays free, spam costs, microtransaction standards emerge.
Disadvantages: Microsoft and Yahoo don't make as much money. Sorry.
mt